Biography - Linda Cardinal

Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Linda Cardinal is a professor at the School of Political Studies and holds the Chair in Canadian Francophonie and Public Policies at the University of Ottawa. She is internationally recognized for her work on the comparative analysis of language regimes, constitutionalism, citizenship and minorities. She has written and edited numerous works on language policy and the public participation of linguistic minorities in Canada, Quebec and Europe in the fields of justice, mental health, education and municipal politics. Her most recent publications and collaborations include La constitution bilingue du Canada, un projet inachevé (Université Laval Press, 2017), Une tradition et un droit: Le Sénat et la représentation de la francophonie canadienne (University of Ottawa Press, 2017), “Minority Languages, Education, and the Constitution” in The Oxford Handbook of the Canadian Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2017) and State Traditions and Language Regimes (McGill–Queen’s University Press, 2015).

Linda was the first coordinator of the francophone studies program (2011–2014). She also oversaw the political science PhD program (2014–2016) and has been the director of political science undergraduate program since 2017 (term runs until 2019). From 2012 to 2015, she was a member of the University of Ottawa’s Board of Governors. Since 2017, she has been a member of University of Ottawa Senate and the Council of Ontario Universities.

Linda Cardinal was recently appointed to the Law Commission of Ontario as a member-at-large. She was also awarded the Ordre du mérite by the Association of French-Speaking Jurists of Ontario. In 2013, she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2014, she was named Knight of France’s Ordre des Palmes académiques. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her research on public policy and language rights, the Bernard Grandmaître prize from the Association des communautés francophones d’Ottawa (ACFO) for her leadership and commitment and the Pillar of the Francophonie Award from the Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario.